A Marvelous Time with Our Leaders

You know, I don’t use the word marvelous very often, but it fits as I look back on yesterday—especially our Managers’ Reception. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about this event. It was scheduled at Universal Studios here in Orlando, and I can’t say I was all that excited about spending the evening riding roller coasters, but I had so much fun! And everyone I talked to did too; in fact, several people mentioned it was the best Managers’ Reception they’d ever been to.

We boarded the buses at the hotel then headed off to the park. When we arrived, we were greeted with a red carpet and a live band—and things only got better from there. The park was closed, and we were escorted from the main entrance to the Marvel Super Hero Island, a special place where the famous Marvel comic book heroes come alive.

A divine buffet filled the street, and there was plenty of yummy food for everyone. The signs on the street were personalized, with the Stampin’ Up! logo all over the place. You know how in comics they have word bubbles with Pow! or Bam!? Those bubbles were all over the island, but they had replaced the comic-book words with words like Stamp! and Swap! It was very cool.

Spiderman and other super heroes (I don’t know all their names, but I recognized most of them) were mingling with our own Stampin’ Up! demonstrator heroes and posing for photos. The rides were all open, and there were no lines—an unusual and welcome experience in a theme park. People were jumping off one ride and running to the next one; a few people actually rode the roller coaster 15 times! It was so much fun to see the kid come out in everyone! And, as usual, our Events staff had thought of every detail, and the entire evening was a huge success.

Of course, that was the end to an entire day that was wonderful. Yesterday started kind of early, with an Advisory Board Reunion poolside breakfast. The omelet bar was tasty, but I enjoyed visiting with all the Advisory Board alumni best.

Our opening session went well, with several exciting announcements. One thing that people seemed the most excited about was the announcement of My Digital Studio, Stampin’ Up!’s own digital software. We’re not announcing any official launch date yet, other than later this year, but when it comes out, it is going to be so cool! I’m sure I’ll be posting more about that in the future.

One of the things I’m personally very excited about is our line of stencils, and I got to demonstrate that on stage. I loved preparing for my demonstration, and afterwards several people told me that originally they hadn’t been very interested in stenciling, but after seeing the projects and techniques I showed, they were looking forward to trying it themselves. I’m glad I was able to catch people’s attention because I think stenciling is a great way to decorate your home, as well as lots of other projects, including cards and scrapbook pages.

The classes on both days went extremely well, I think. I actually taught a class this year for the first time, so I didn’t have time to attend the classes yesterday, but since my class was only taught one day, I popped into the others today. Every class I went to—and every class I heard about—seemed well received, with training and material and information and ideas that people loved.

Our closing session ended on a fabulous note with Kathleen Passanisi—she was the best way we could have ended an already terrific conference. She talked about change, an underlying theme of several presentations (which wasn’t planned, by the way), in a way that was both entertaining and thought provoking. She was fast-paced, humorous, and timely; I loved her!

So, it was a long, full two days, but like I said, it was marvelous!

Off to Leadership

Well, I finally got dressed this morning, after spending most of the last several days in my pajamas and focusing all day long—and into the night—on Stampin’ Up!’s upcoming leadership conference.

I’m excited about what I’m doing at leadership, and I’ve had so much fun working on the projects for my main stage demonstration. But it’s taken a lot of time, and I have to admit I’m feeling a little stressed.

When I say I spent most of the past few days in my pajamas, I’m really not exaggerating. I did get dressed yesterday and attended church, and I got dressed on Friday night to attend our son-in-law Jon’s art show. I mentioned earlier that he’d graduated in December with a degree in photography, and he’s participating in a one-month art show/gallery walk in downtown Provo, Utah, that opened on Friday.

I went with Shalae and Jon and their children to check things out—loved the eclectic feel of the café/gallery and loved Jon’s photos even more.

Shalae read the blog recently and said, “Mom, you need to explain why you mention us so often in the blog! Your readers will think I’m the favorite or something!”

As I looked back on my posts, I realize I do mention her a lot, so I could see her point—they do pop up a lot! But the explanation isn’t because we love them more, it’s simply that they live closer and, in Shalae’s words, “We impose on you a lot!”

Of course, spending time with our girls and their families is never an imposition! I love every minute we spend with family. Shalae and Jon live only a couple of miles away, and they do drop by often. Sage and Jason are the next closest. They live only about a half hour away, but that half hour makes a difference!

So, that’s why you see Shalae and her family a bit more than the others!

Now, I’m heading off to leadership, and I probably won’t post for a few days. I’m still wrapping up a few details on a couple of my projects tomorrow, rehearsing on Wednesday, and the party begins on Thursday! I’ll let you all know how it goes—and hopefully I’ll see a few of you there!

Ringing in the New Year

I wouldn’t normally spend much time talking about the way we party on New Year’s Eve, but Sterling and I looked at each other and laughed when we read one of your comments on the blog, noting that you couldn’t wait to see how we rang in the new year. So I thought I’d share.

We rang in the new year last night with family in our favorite fashion—several hours early! (smile)

Sterling and I will stay up late if there are people at our house, wanting to make it a party. But last night all we had was Shalae and Jon and their three children. And for all the boys knew, it might have been midnight—because they definitely stayed up way past their bedtime!

To celebrate we made shape pancakes (stars and hearts—both the boys wanted stars), toasted with Martinelli’s bubbly (a holiday tradition), ate caramel popcorn while watching an episode of “Word World” (a PBS short cartoon series), and then waved to the kids as they headed home. They left our house about 8, which is pretty late for those three little ones.

Sterling and I weren’t too far behind. We didn’t get to bed way early, but we sure didn’t stay up until midnight either!

And today has been just as enjoyable. I’ve listened to Christmas music all day (probably the last whole day for several months, although I do sneak in Christmas songs all year long) and worked on leadership projects, while Sterling cleared snow off our driveway. No interruptions, no meetings or deadlines, not a lot of pressure. I’m excited about what I’m demonstrating on stage at leadership, and I’m having lots of fun trying out new things.

So there you have it—a Gardner family New Year’s celebration! Hope the details aren't too disappointing! And I also hope you all had a wonderful New Year celebration yourself!

A Christmas Wrap-Up

It’s been an entire week since I’ve posted (the longest I’ve gone since I started this blog) and I’m not even going to apologize for it! (smile) I’m hoping that you’re not checking as regularly as you might otherwise be because you’re doing the same thing I am—enjoying lots of pajama time with loved ones!

I’ll do a quick rundown of the past week and catch you up. Last Tuesday we started what I think will become an annual tradition: our Courage Reins Christmas open house. Several years ago, Sterling became involved with a local group—Courage Reins—as a volunteer and member of the board. Briefly, the organization works to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through therapeutic horseback riding and other equine-based activities.

Sterling and I have always worked to teach our girls how important it is to serve others. We believe this helps develop gratitude for what we have and an awareness of others and the role we all must play in reaching out to those around us. Now that we’ve got grandchildren, we wanted them to have the same opportunity, so our Courage Reins open house was a wonderful opportunity for our grandchildren to meet others who may be a little different from them.

We invited all the Courage Reins volunteers, riders, and their families to the open house. The grandchildren listened to a few volunteers talk about why they loved what they did and loved the kids they worked with, and then the grandchildren gave out gift cards to the riders and Rice Krispie treats and hot chocolate to everyone.

It was a fabulous event! We loved watching our children and grandchildren interact with the Courage Reins riders, and we’re already looking forward to next year.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve, and after the typical scurrying around to get all the last-minute things done, we hunkered down at home. Sean and Sara and their kids and Sage and Jason and Kona all stayed at our house. Shalae and Jon only live a couple of miles away, so they came for Christmas Eve activities (NOT dressed in pajamas; Shalae completely forgot that was our tradition!) but went home to sleep in their own beds. (Nate and Megan were in southern Utah for Christmas but joined us on Saturday and Sunday.)

We laid out a lot of finger food and nibbled all night long while we watched Christmas movies, ending the evening with a Christ-centered movie. When the kids went to bed, the grown-ups stayed up a little longer, finishing up the late-night gift duties and watching another movie. It was laidback and relaxing!

The kids woke up fairly early on Christmas Day, and we opened the Santa gifts before calling Shanna in Spain. (Missionaries are allowed two phone calls a year—one at Christmas and one for Mother’s Day, so this was a significant event.)

I have to say hearing Shanna’s voice was the highlight of the day for me. She sounded great! She’s had a few health problems, but she sounds like those are hopefully improving, and she’d had a wonderful Christmas Eve with a family they used to live with. The sweet family, which had very little money, spent way more than they should have on a dinner for Shanna and her companion. The evening was full of love and sacrifice, and Shanna said that if nothing else good happens her entire mission, this one experience will have made the entire time worthwhile!

We probably talked to Shanna way longer than we should have, but I didn’t want to say good-bye—and she didn’t either! The grandchildren were fairly patient, especially considering that they still had unopened gifts they were anxiously waiting to tear into! Eventually we hung up with Shanna and finished opening presents.

  

We had agreed the night before that, unlike previous years, we would actually stay in our pajamas the entire Christmas Day! I loved it! Shalae and Jon and their children had come appropriately dressed this time, and we spent the ENTIRE DAY in PJs! We even had our traditional dinner, complete with the Christmas china that Mom Heather had given to me just before she died, wearing only our comfy nightwear. It was great!

Although we did get dressed on Friday and Saturday, it was mostly more relaxing and playing with family. On Friday, Sara and the kids went to the movie while I tended Stella. That night, the boys (Sean and his sons) went to a friend’s house for an almost-all-nighter video game party, and the Sara, her girls, Sterling, and I watched another movie and munched on caramel popcorn.

On Saturday, all the adults went out to dinner to celebrate Jon’s graduation. We take all the kids out when they graduate from college—the graduate gets to choose the restaurant. Jon chose the Melting Pot, a yummy fondue restaurant in downtown Salt Lake. We went to an early dinner to miss the crowds, so we got back home early enough to fit in yet another movie. (I watched more movies this week than I have almost the whole year!) The kids were in bed, so it was just Sean and Sara, Megan and Nate, and Sterling and me. (Sage and Jason and Shalae and Jon went back home after dinner.) Megan and Nate fell asleep before the movie ended—they were exhausted!

Today, I’m reluctantly heading back into the real world. We have meetings in Washington, and I’m working on my Leadership Conference presentations and projects too. It’s been hard to get back into the swing of things, but I’m so grateful for the few days’ break and the wonderful chance to spend time with the most important people in the world—my family!

A Christmas Card Story (Guest posted by Shalae)

My mom said I could guest post this week—it’s been a wonderfully busy holiday, with lots of family fun time. She is preparing a post for tomorrow that kind of wraps up our family Christmas week, but in the meantime, she loved my Christmas card and invited me to share the project with you.

You have to know something about me first. I’m not a terribly creative person. I love to stamp, but I don’t stamp often, and when I do, I copy what other people do. The one exception? Our annual Christmas card.

Because I really do enjoy stamping, and because we don’t stay in touch with our friends as well as we’d like (we do the best we can with three small children and a husband in school, but it’s just not the season for a lot of friend time!), I choose to hand-stamp our 120 Christmas cards so that people know that we really do care about them, even though we haven’t called them for forever.

Usually I sit down with Mom or Sara and they help me come up with an idea. This year, however, our card was mostly my own idea, which is why I’m especially proud of it! I love the Top Note die cut and the Winter Post set, so I was talking to Mom about how I could incorporate those two things into a card. I came up with the idea of die cutting the picture, along with the matching card stock front and the back of the card. You just stamp a few images on the card stock, add a dimensional to pop up the circle and poke a bit of ribbon, and you’re done. Because you can run three layers through the Big Shot, it was very quick and easy.     

 

As a side note, I sent my cards out a little late this year. We didn’t take our photo until later, and I did the stamping on a plane ride to the East Coast a couple of weeks ago when Jon and I went back there to check out a few graduate schools (he graduated in photography this month from Utah Valley University). When we got back from our trip, I finished everything up; Jon even helped me with the ribbon. I stuck the cards in the mail the week before Christmas.

I was a bit surprised when about half of them came back, with a note that they needed more postage! Apparently if you stick a button or ribbon or anything dimensional on a card,the post office can charge more postage. From what I understand, they often don’t (my mom receives dozens of hand-stamped cards every year with all sorts of accents on them that are mailed with standard postage), but I guess during the holidays they get a little more strict. Of course, I re-mailed those and made a mental note for next year!

I hope you like this card. I realize it’s after Christmas, but I think this card would work for a lot of occasions—announcements (birth or wedding!), invitations, special occasions, whatever. I sure had fun making it, and it was so quick and easy, I hoped someone out there might be looking for something that was fun to do but didn’t take a lot of time!

Hope you all have a great new year!